Category Archives: GIF

I had to finish my last couple weeks of graduate school, then a much needed week in Disneyland. Promptly after my vacation, I had to pack to move. Once mostly moved, I didn’t have internet access. Lastly, my brother is moving across the country, so I’ve been volunteered to help fix up his house.

Needless to say, it’s kind of been like this:

Once Jon is back in town, we should hopefully be back up and running. In the meantime, I’m working on getting my backlogged posts up. Keep checking back!

This film is on my list of least favorite Disney animated films. There are some great points, and some not so great. Alas, the trouble with watching the entire Disney animated canon is that you have to watch all of them – whether you like it or not.

As you would probably guess, The Jungle Book, like most of the Disney stories, was based on a book. In fact, it was a collection of stories, of the same name, written by Rudyard Kipling in 1894 and 1895. He also wrote Rikki-Tikki-Tavi, but I digress. Kipling was born in India, where the story is based. I can’t tell you how many people have told me it’s in Africa. Sorry, it’s not. Anyway, like all of the other stories adapted to Disney films, there are many many changes. But as this is a Disney blog, not a literary blog, I will just inform you that you may download the book for free, in its entirety from amazon. Walt, himself, told his animators not to bother reading the novel. He described what he wanted to see for himself.

The story was chosen at the suggestion of Bill Peet (see previous two films). Unfortunately for Bill, Walt hated his screenplay, causing Bill to quit. Bill Peet had worked with the company for twenty five years.

Despite my dislike of the film, there is much to be said about its place in Disney history, from its significance, to the artwork, to the characters, and to the music.

In the film, you will hear three particularly famous voices.

Playing the part of Kaa (my favorite character), the python, is none other than our old friend Sterling Holloway (the stork in Dumbo, Winnie the Pooh, etc.)

Playing the part of Baloo, the bear, is Phil Harris. “Who?” you ask? He was a bandleader and a radio man. He will also be the voice of Thomas O’Malley in the Aristocats and Little John in Robin Hood (more on Little John in a couple weeks.) He would also give the voice to Baloo in Tale Spin before he was replaced.

And last, but not least, we have the return of Verna Felton, playing the female elephant. You’ll remember her as the Fairy Godmother in Cinderella, among other roles.

You will hear some of the music of The Sherman Brothers, but arguably not their most famous work. The song, The Bare Necessities (ha, it’s a bear singing it. get it?) was actually written by someone else, Terry Gilkyson..

The Jungle Book is also another example of reused Disney animation.
The wolf cubs in the beginning is reused animation of the puppies from 101 Dalmatians.

When Mowgli calls for the wolves (another beginning shot), that animation is reused from The Sword in the Stone.

The sequence of Baloo running with Mowgli after “I Want to Be Like You” is reused from The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad.

More notable, which is rarely known, the designs of the elephants (along with some animation) was reused from a short entitled, “Goliath the Elephant.” You may also recognize one or two elephants from Dumbo.

Other sequences from The Jungle Book will be used in later films, which we will discuss then. Why reuse animation? To save money. It’s as simple as that.

On the same note, the noise of Louie’s laugh is actually that of B’rer Rabbit’s from Song of the South.

My favorite fact about The Jungle Book, according to Ollie Johnson (one of the nine old men), Baloo’s entrance was acted out by Walt Disney. Ollie used his movements to create the scene.

Another fun fact was that Louis Prima (King Louie) and Phil Harris (Baloo) couldn’t sing “I Want To Be Like You” together due to scheduling conflicts. They recorded their parts separately. Phil’s part wasn’t completely scripted. He improvised quite a bit.

Last, but not least, the vultures are, indeed, supposed to resemble The Beatles, who were supposed to provide their voices. However, a scheduling conflict prevented the Liverpool band to oblige.

However, despite the fun facts, there is one fact that is the most important.

The Jungle Book would be the last animated film that Walt Disney would personally oversee. It would be released October 18th, 1967, after Walt’s death on December 15th of the previous year. More on this in the next post.

The princess shall indeed grow in grace and beauty, beloved by all who know her. But… before the sun sets on her 16th birthday, she shall prick her finger, on the spindle of a spinning wheel – AND DIE!

Sleeping Beauty is the third of Walt Disney’s “princess” movies, following Snow White and Cinderella. (I put princess in quotation marks due to a personal annoyance with a matter – we’ll discuss that in a couple weeks.) It would also be the last princess film that Walt would make. The next royal film would not appear until 1989 with The Little Mermaid. Odd how much Disney is known for (marketing) their princesses when Walt was only around for the first three – there are 10 “official” Disney princesses, and several not counted in the line-up. MOVING ON!

As Jon pointed out, Sleeping Beauty is based upon the 17th century fairy tale “La Belle au Bois Dormant” by Charles Perrault. However, nearly two centuries later, Pyotr Tchaikovsky scored a ballet of the fairy tale. The Disney film is based on both versions of the story (conveniently leaving out rape and whatnot.) Speaking of the ballet – much of the score is used in the soundtrack (or the soundtrack is based upon the ballet) of Disney’s Sleeping Beauty. However, the film is just as much original Disney as it is either of those.

The oddest thing about the film, Sleeping Beauty, is that it is the story of a princess who is cursed to die or sleep forever. Her only chance of survival is true love’s kiss or something. However, the title character – Sleeping Beauty herself – only appears in the film for 18 minutes. So what happens in the film if the title character isn’t around? Good question.

King Stephen and Queen Leah have a baby (and the peasants rejoice.) They throw a party to honor the new princess. Their friend, King Hubert, and his son, Prince Phillip, come, baring some kind of gift. Afterwards, three fairies come bestowing the girls of beauty and song . Uh oh. In poofs Maleficent, Mistress of Evil.

She apparently is the mistress of some dark forbidden mountain. (It is unclear exactly how she and King Hubert relate to the kingdom.) Anyhow, she is pissed because she wasn’t invited to the birthday party. She doesn’t get cake and one of the fairies pisses her off further by saying “You weren’t wanted!” So what does Maleficent do? Curses the princess and says she will die when she is 16. Maleficent’s motive throughout the whole film seems to be based on her being unwanted. While a weak motive, she happens to be a bad ass. Maleficent leaves. Fairies raise baby. Baby grows up to be beautiful (although painfully thin) falls in love with a prince, blah blah blah.

But speaking of the fairies (including Maleficent), I have to wonder, what exactly are their powers? Merryweather can’t undo Maleficent’s curse. The good fairies don’t help Phillip defeat the dragon until they have to. Maleficent sent her goons to find Aurora. It seems that they only have powers sometimes. Maybe they should hook up with the chocolate pot roast eating giant who has odd and random powers, as well.

Okay, back to the history and process. You wouldn’t be reading this if you haven’t seen the film, right?

Sleeping Beauty cost Walt Disney Productions six million dollars to make, and it took them six years to do so. Now, when I say six years, I don’t mean like Alice or Peter where there were concepts and then put on hold for a while. I am talking six years of actual production time. The animators were only able to draw one frame a day. For those of you who don’t know, it takes 24 frames to make 1 second of film.

As for the animation, itself:

Sleeping Beauty was the last Disney animated film to use hand-inked cells, but we’ll talk more about that for our next film.

The film was made in SUPER widescreen (called super technirama 70) because in 1959,TVs were increasingly popular and less people were going to the movies. The only other animated film in this format would be The Black Cauldron (1985) Walt had to make this one special (AND NOT LIKE SNOW WHITE OR CINDERELLA)

The stylist for the film was a gentleman by the name of Eyvind Earle, who worked on several shorts, along with Peter Pan and Lady and the Tramp. He is the reason why (generally) everything in the background remains in focus and people are standing still (to resemble paintings). These ideas drove the animators bonkers, but as it turns out, it is beautifully executed. (Probably my favorite art of all the Disney films) After this film, Eyvind quit the company to work on his own artwork.

Walt didn’t like the “I Wonder” scene (when Aurora first goes to “pick berries” and is singing – she has not yet met Phillip) – he thought it was boring and needed more cute animals. Consequently, the deflating owl is probably one of my favorites.

Most of the live-action references were not provided by the voice actors (unlike Peter Pan, Alice in Wonderland, and Cinderella) because they did not look the part.

I also want to point out the magnificent Eleanor Audley, the voice of the Mistress of Evil, Maleficent. You may recognize her as the voice of Lady Tremaine from Cinderella or the voice of Leota (the woman in the crystal ball) from the Haunted Mansion ride. Walt wanted her for the voice of Maleficent but she turned him down due to tuberculosis. Eventually, she gave in and is one of the most memorable Disney voices and villains.

For all you Disney Parks enthusiasts, you’ll remember that the castle in the center of Disneyland is called “Sleeping Beauty Castle.” However, the park, including the castle, was built in 1955, whereas the film came out in 1959. You’ll also notice the park castle looks nothing like the movie castle. Such is life. BUT if you did walk through the castle (from 1957 to 2001), you will be able to view dioramas of the film. Disneyland Paris and Hong Kong also feature a Sleeping Beauty castle whereas Walt Disney World features Cinderella Castle.

Last but not least, a quick survey:
Would Sleeping Beauty be released today with a G rating? Would it have been made today at all? Maleficent’s scripting has several words that I (or my students) wouldn’t be allowed to say in school. The dragon scene? Amazing, but SCARY. Thoughts?

Also – sorry, not many GIFs/images this week. I’m in the process of my last couple weeks of graduate school and am packing to move within the next month, along with preparing a Disneyland trip. However, if you have a request, feel free to leave a comment and I’ll get around to it when I can.

Sarah here. Jon and I have noticed a lot of people taking an interest in our animated GIFs. If you have a request for a GIF, go ahead and leave a comment. If I have easy access to the film, they are simple to make….when or if I have some free time.

I’m fairly neutral about the story of Lady and the Tramp. It’s never been one of my favorites, but never a least favorite, either. As a kid, my favorite part was the siamese cat song, but that was more from a Sing A Long Songs VHS I had, not because of the actual movie.

The year is 1955. Business is booming for the Walt Disney Company. Their last three films have been a HUGE financial hit. This also happens to be the year in which Disneyland would open in Anaheim, CA. A big year, to say the least.

The original story of Lady and the Tramp started in the late 1930s, much like Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, and of course, Snow White. Joe Grant, an artist at the company (who designed the hag in Snow White) began writing about his Springer Spaniel, Lady. Of course, his personal dog, got shoved aside for his new baby. This story did not contain the Tramp. The movie got put on hold because Walt hated the character of Lady.

Tramp would appear in the 1940s when Walt bought the rights to Ward Greene’s story “Happy Dan, The Whistling Dog.” Joe Grant’s Lady fell in love with Ward Greene’s tramp and a story was made. Walt greenlighted the project yet again. However, like the films before it, Lady and the Tramp got put on hold again because of the war.

In 1953, Ward Greene, wrote a new version of the story, “Lady and the Tramp” (at Walt’s request). This would then become Walt’s source material and would allow the public to get to know the story before the film.

My favorite fun fact about the film is Walt’s personal connection. Walt’s studio was a success. He was building Disneyland. He was out of the house a lot. On one particular occasion, he came home very late (and supposedly very drunk). Lillian, his wife, was upset and locked him out of the house. The next morning, Walt presented her with a puppy in a hatbox. This very scene would be used in the film, Lady and the Tramp.

Other random fact: Walt didn’t want to include the spaghetti scene. One of his animators did it anyway. Walt ended up liking it.

Character Voices:

Bill Thompson (as discussed in my previous post) provides the voice of Jock and several other minor characters.

Peter Pan will forever and always be one of my favorite animated Disney films. It is beautifully created – from the artwork, the script, the character development, everything. Is my real love because of my own personal “not wanting to grow up?” Perhaps. On the other hand, I have very strong memories of eating in a local restaurant when I was fiveish years old where I would pretend that the Tick-Tock Croc was around and if I put my feet down he would eat me. But you’re not here to read about my childhood. Let’s move on.

We are in our third film taken from British literature. (The Wind in the Willows and Alice in Wonderland being our previous films.) Was it because Walt had a fascination with the Brits? Not so much.

As with Alice, Walt had experience with the story of Peter Pan since he was a young boy. In 1913, at the tender age of 12, Walt watched a touring company’s stage performance of Peter Pan, written by J.M. Barrie. You see, the original written work was a stage play, not a film nor a storybook. Eleven years later, a popular silent film version of Peter Pan was released, which Walt also saw. Once Walt’s company was booming, the idea would not leave him alone.

Peter Pan was in some sort of development since the late 1930s, around the same time Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was being made. In 1939, Walt had acquired the screen rights. The rights had to be given by a children’s hospital in London, as that is who J.M. Barrie had left them to in his will. With the rights in hand, there was no stopping Walt….except…..the war. Despite having storyboards made and a basic structure to the film, Peter Pan had to be put on hold.

In the original Disney concept for Peter Pan, Nana, the dog was to travel with Wendy, John, and Michael to Neverland. I would love to have seen that version, but alas, the company had other plans.

In other versions discussed by the Walt Disney Company, Captain Hook was killed, the children never came back, and other darker themes emerged. Eventually, they decided to go the more light-hearted route

After the war, Walt needed some financial success in the box office to keep his company afloat. It was not the time to bring back Peter. However, after the success es of both Cinderella and Alice, Walt could finally bring back his dear boy.

Fun facts about Peter Pan:

This film is the first time than Peter was played by a male. The stage Peter is traditionally played by a female.

The song, “The Second Star to the Right” was originally composed for Alice in Wonderland.

Walt Disney, himself, disliked the character of Peter Pan in his version.

It was, sadly, the last film where each of the “Nine Old Men” worked as directing animators.

It is also the last film distributed by RKO Pictures before Walt founded his own distribution company.

The Tick-Tock Croc originally had his own theme song with lyrics. While the melody can still be heard in the film, the lyrics were cut. However, you can hear the lyrics in Walt Disney World’s Hallowishes fireworks show and in some promotional material.

Blah Blah Blah….Michael Jackson’s favorite movie….Blah Blah Blah.

The original story is much much darker….almost all of the Indians die, pirates are shot all the time, there’s poison, and fairies…well, don’t say that you don’t believe.

People Involved in the Creation of Peter Pan:

Peter Pan welcomes back the lovely Kathryn Beaumont as the voice of Wendy Moira Angela Darling. She also provided the voice of Alice in Alice in Wonderland. She also provided the live action reference for Wendy.

Bobby Driscoll appears as the voice of Peter Pan. This would be his sixth film for the Disney company. Previously we’ve seen him in Melody Time. He was also in Disney’s Song of the South, Treasure Island, and So Dear to My Heart. Bobby would also be used as the film reference.

Bill Thompson, the voice of Smee, was also the voice of the White Rabbit in Alice in Wonderland, and we’ll see him again in Lady and the Tramp, The Aristocats, and Sleeping Beauty.

Candy Candido, the voice of the Indian Chief, appeared in Fun and Fancy Free and will later appear in Robin Hood and The Great Mouse Detective.

A young actress by the name of Margaret Kelly (not Marilyn Monroe) provided the live action reference for Tinkerbell.

And last but not least, take some time to view some beautiful concept art by the talented and amazing Mary Blair. If you’d like to see more (and read the story of Peter Pan), check out the book which is illustrated using her concept art.

J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan is in public domain and can be downloaded for free from amazon.com.

With the commercial success of Cinderella, the studio was saved and Walt finally had the opportunity to reintroduce a film that has been revisited, revised, and in pre-production five different times over the course of thirteen years. However, this story doesn’t begin with Walt or his production team. Nor does this story begin with hallucinogens or drugs. This goes back three-quarters of a century to England and a Mr. Charles Dodgson.

The stories of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass (yes, there were originally two stories) were written in the mid-late nineteenth century by Lewis Carroll (the pen-name of Charles Dodgson.) Mr. Dodgson was a clergyman, mathematician, and photographer. Living on the campus of Christ Church, he became very close with the Liddell family, which consisted of Henry (the dean of Christ Church), his wife, and their four children. Because of Dodgson’s fascination with photography, he always had an excuse to be near the children, frequently using them as subjects. He told them fantastical stories as they went for picnics and walks.

One such day, Charles, his friend, and the three youngest of the Liddell children went for a picnic on a boat down a river. The children, as they often did, begged Mr. Dodgson for a story. This was the beginning of what would become Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. The youngest of the Liddell children was Alice, of which the main character was based. The other children were put in as other characters, while the more famous ones, such as The Queen of Hearts, would be based on more prominent people of the time. Alice begged and begged for Mr. Dodgson to write his stories down and he eventually obliged, giving a copy with his own illustrations to the Liddell family. The family was so entranced by his storybook that they insisted he have it published. Once realizing it was to be published, he hired Sir John Tenniel to do the illustrations.

I will pause in my history lesson to acknowledge an argument (not one of my own.) Were the Alice stories an innocent gesture for a little girl? Was Mr. Dodgson in love with Alice or her older sister? There was a point in which Charles and the Liddell family were estranged. Why? Are the accusations of pedophilia true? I do not know. Many Carroll scholars argue the contrary. He did, in fact, take nude photographs of children, but this was apparently a sign of the times. I will allow you to form your own opinion on the matter. Continuing on…

Once published, Lewis Carroll’s stories became tremendously popular all over the world. He changed children’s literature forever. Previous to his stories being published, all children’s stories and books were meant as morality tales. They were to teach children how to behave, how to think, and to keep quiet. Carroll insisted that his works would have no morals. They were simply for entertainment purposes. (Yes, you have Lewis Carroll to thank for changing literature and influencing all the other authors we know and love today.)

So what does any of this have to do with Walt Disney? I’m glad you asked.

As a schoolboy, Walt read Mr. Carroll’s stories. He became entranced, as so many children do, with the fantastical, nonsensical world of Wonderland. The stories perfectly reflected what it is like to be a child trying to live in a grown up world. No one listens to you, you’re constantly berated, and everything seems like nonsense.

In the 1920s, before Snow White, Mickey Mouse, or even Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, there was Alice. Walt Disney’s first commercial success came in the form of “the Alice Comedies” or “Alice in Cartoon Land.” These shorts featured live action as well as animated characters. The shorts were created in Disney’s first studio in Kansas City, MO. (There is currently a project to restore Laugh-O-Gram Studios – more information: here) While the Alice comedies had very little to do with Carroll’s novels, it was Walt’s first dabble with the idea.

Several (if not all) of the Alice comedies can be found on youtube (as they are now in public domain):Alice’s Wonderland

Shortly after Alice’s fame, Disney moved out to Hollywood where Oswald and Mickey would soon be born. Walt didn’t leave Wonderland behind in Kansas, however. The inspiration of Carroll’s Wonderland would follow him for many years to come.

In 1931, Walt Disney bought the rights to the illustrations done by Sir John Tenniel. These would later serve as inspiration for the film that we know and love today.

Alice could have very well been the “first” animated feature instead of Snow White. However, in 1933, the Alice project was put on hold due to another production company releasing a live action version of Alice in Wonderland.

Walt did not let his ideas of Wonderland escape. In 1936, the Walt Disney Studios created a Mickey Mouse short called, “Thru the Mirror,” and in 1938, Walt set his men to start developing Alice in Wonderland as a full feature. In the 1939 film, Pinocchio, you can see two books in the background – Alice in Wonderland and Peter Pan. These were the next two films being developed. Unfortunately, they kept getting delayed and would not make their debut for over a decade.

Finally, after the commercial success of Cinderella, Walt could once again revisit Wonderland.

While Walt wanted to stay true to the original material, several things were changed in the film (as so often happens.) Both books, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass were used as inspiration. Several characters were cut from the stories, such as the Mock Turtle, Duchess, the White Knight, and the Jabberwocky (to name a few.) Although the ideas were toyed with by the company, they were cut, mostly due to time constraints.

The scene in the Tulgey Wood was created by the studios to make Alice a more sympathetic character. This does not appear in the book(s). The Door Knob character was also created by the production team. The scene with the flowers was changed in that Alice is shorter in height in the film, creating a different dynamic and events.

Character Fun Facts:

Disney originally wanted Luana Patten (Fun and Fancy Free, Song of the South, Melody Time) as Alice. At this time, it was being considered to do the film as live action. However, British actress Kathryn Beaumont would ultimately win out as Alice. She would also serve as the reference model.

The March Hare was so named because hares mate in the month of March, making them “mad.” This is alluded to when, in the film, he says, “Who’s Dinah?” and begins to pant

The Mad Hatter was named because in the 18th and 19th centuries felt was made using mercury. After prolonged exposure to the mercury, hatters would develop dementia.

The tag in his hat reads 10/6. This is a price, not a fraction. It was never originally stated by Lewis Carroll that the tag was in the hat, but it has stayed since Sir John Tenniel’s illustrations.

The mother oyster looked at her calendar, under the sea, and warned the oysters not to follow the Walrus. The month was March, with the R glowing red. Traditionally, oysters should only be eaten in months with an “R” in them, because in the other months it was too hot.

The Cheshire cat was named because of the abundance of dairies in Cheshire, England. Charles Dodgson was born in Cheshire.

Although the Jabberwocky does not appear in the film, the Cheshire Cat sings a verse from the poem:

`Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.

Other Fun Facts:

Alice in Wonderland contains the most songs out of every Disney film to date.

Sterling Holloway appears as the voice of the Cheshire Cat (Also known for voicing Winnie the Pooh, Kaa, and the stork from Dumbo)

Verna Felton appears as the voice of the Queen of Hearts (Also known for the Fairy Godmother in Cinderella and various elephants)

Last, but not least, is the topic of drugs. Without doing any research, it is an understandable assumption that Lewis Carroll was on drugs. Everyone is insane. The caterpillar, in both the book and the films, is smoking a hookah. However, doing research, it seems to be that the author was not a drug user, but making references to things in his life. The hookah smoking caterpillar was inspired by artists that were photographed by Dodgson, for example. This argument can go either way, so I am leaving it alone. I am not well versed enough in Dodgson or drugs to make a point towards either side.

We are finally out of the package films of the 1940s, and into my favorite era of Disney films. Yes, that’s right. I like this era better than the “Renaissance Era” of films (but I love those, too.)

At this point, the studio is on the verge of closing. Their last big hit happened to be their first feature film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Between the war and films either losing money or only making their money back, the studio was in dire trouble. The only reason the Walt Disney Company existed at the time was because of their training films for WWII and their deal to make both Saludos Amigos and The Three Caballeros. Walt needed to make a huge hit or else his studio would be closed forever.

Out of the depths of the Disney files, the company decided on Cinderella. The Walt Disney Company had been working on ideas for a Cinderella since the 1930s. It was one of Walt’s favorite stories. He, himself, grew up poor, working on a farm and delivering newspapers. He built his studio out of nothing. The film itself was being built out of a lot of debt. Both were Cinderella stories. It was the perfect time to make the film, but at the same time it was a huge risk.

As Jon mentioned in his post, there are hundreds of versions of the Cinderella story. Some are rather gruesome, some not so much. There are versions from all over the world. In fact, I was lucky enough to hang out with some very ambitious and intelligent fifth graders who were comparing as many versions as they could find, including African, French, and Chinese versions of the story. The mice and Lucifer (the cat) subplot was a lovely addition added to the story by the Walt Disney Company. Walt’s adaptation is one of the most well known to this day.

In order to create the hit that would be Cinderella, Walt relied on his “Nine Old Men.” I can’t say enough about them. There are fabulous books and documentaries on them, so I won’t even try to compete. In addition to the beautiful work of the men who would be responsible for the “Disney look,” much of the concept art was designed by Mary Blair. She will be revisited with Peter Pan and Alice in Wonderland.

In order to create the film, Disney shot the entire film (minus the cat/mouse scenes) in live action. Some of the animators weren’t thrilled with the idea, but it happened all the same. The animators look the live action footage as more than just reference; it was projected onto the paper. The lines weren’t simply traced over, but enhanced. Some things had to be adjusted for animation. Characters were exaggerated.

Ward Kimball (one of the Nine Old Men) was the only animator who did not have live action reference. He was responsible for the mice, Jacques and Gus (and others), Lucifer the cat, and Bruno the dog. Lucifer (see following post) was based on Ward’s real cat.

Speaking of Walt’s wonderful studio team, several of his voice actors would be heard in other Disney films.

Betty Lou Gerson, the narrator at the beginning of the film, would later appear in the 1961 film, 101 Dalmatians, as Cruella de Vil.

Eleanor Audley, the voice of Lady Tremaine (the wicked stepmother), would later be the voice of the Maleficent in the 1959 film Sleeping Beauty, along with appearing in the tv show: The Wonderful World of Disney and would also the voice of Madame Leota in Disney’s Haunted Mansion (the ride, not the movie)

Verna Felton, the voice of the Fairy Godmother, was heard as an elephant in Dumbo, voiced another elephant in The Jungle Book, the Queen of Hearts in Alice in Wonderland, Flora in Sleeping Beauty, and Aunt Sarah in Lady and the Tramp. She died the same day as Mr. Walt Disney himself.

According to the credits, Thurl Ravenscroft also did some voice acting for Cinderella, but it is not clear as whom. You may know him as the voice of Tony the Tiger, the singer of “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch,” or as a singer of “Grim Grinning Ghosts” in the Haunted Mansion (he’s the first one singing in that clip).

Perhaps the most interesting tidbit about one the voice actors is not because she appeared in other Disney films, but because of what happened over fifty years later. Ilene Woods (the voice of Cinderella) was the original demo voice for Cinderella. She was the demo because she was friends with the songwriters. Walt heard her and fell in love. Over fifty years later, Ilene was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. She had no recollection that she worked with The Walt Disney Company or did any work for Cinderella. However, when the hospital staff played the song, “A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes,” she was comforted. They played it often for her in the hospital.

My last fun fact about Cinderella is it contains Walt’s favorite piece of animation: Cinderella’s transformation.

Luckily for Walt, the film was a huge success. The studio remained open and has evolved into what we know as “Disney” today.

Admittedly, my favorite thing about the film is Lucifer. He’ll have his own appreciation post here shortly. Aside from Lucifer, Cinderella is actually one of my favorite princesses. She is simply lovely. Nothing gets her down. She’s sweet. She has a beautiful voice. And she is grateful. Oh, be back by midnight? No problem, because this is more than she could have ever asked for. No complaints. I love her attitude.

As much as I love this film, it is in no way perfect. Two things specifically bother me (one is less to do with the film, more to do with marketing/merchandise).

Like Jon brought up previously, there is a lack of depth in the romance department. Apparently dancing once with a girl and not asking her name is grounds enough to marry her. Sounds legit. Let’s briefly take a look at the other Disney princess films:

Snow White – We assume when she is singing at the wishing well that it is her first time meeting Prince Charming, as she runs away from him. However, one could argue that maybe she’s just a stupid young girl and doesn’t know how to interact with men. Maybe they have met before. We don’t really know, but we’ll say that it was “love at first sight.”

Aurora (Sleeping Beauty) – She met her prince “once upon a dream.” Seems legit. They have one dance and then they’re in love.

Ariel – stalks a guy on a boat. She has THREE days to get him to kiss her. They marry shortly after.

Belle – Thank goodness, it isn’t love at first sight. (Sarah, he’s a beast. Of course not. Whatever. We’ll discuss that when we get to the film.) Belle is in the castle for months before there is even a hint at love.

Jasmine – More or less love at first sight when he is himself. When he is a prince, it takes a song and a magic carpet ride.

Pocahontas – Well, at least they don’t get married.

Mulan – There was a war. Who knows how long that actually took, but he thought she was a man so I’m not sure how much it counts on his end, but at least she had however long to be crushing on him.

Tiana – Another case of a couple of days, but at least there was some tribulations and not just instant love.

Rapunzel – Another instance of it taking one day to form a relationship. It wasn’t an instant, but it certainly wasn’t realistic.

While I’m irritated at the portrayal of love, it isn’t enough to ruin the film for me. Let’s face it, everyone is looking for their interpretation of their prince or princess. I think it’s nice that the prince decides to love her, despite her status as scullery maid. I also think SNL and the folks on tumblr have a very good assumption that Prince Charming is gay.

2. Why why why why why does Disney’s marketing completely change Cinderella? They change her hair color and her dress color. She’s always portrayed as a princess, not the kind girl before she got married. She is not a big-breasted blonde run of the mill princess. She is not a material girl.

Marketed Princess Cinderella:

Actual Cinderella:

Last thought:
In regards to the tower Cinderella is locked in, who the heck would build that?

It’s a million rickety old wooden stairs that go on forever and ever. Even if it was built after Cinderella’s father died, wouldn’t whoever built it say WTF?

Anyway, I’m very happy to be out of the 40s. Next week, one of my favorites: Alice in Wonderland.

The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad is a forgotten film, but not as forgotten as Make Mine Music and the like.

The original title of the film was “Two Fabulous Characters.” I’m glad it changed. There’s more than two characters and I would hardly call Ichabod “fabulous.” Augh. Anyway. Moving on.

First up, Basil Rathbone (from Sherlock Holmes fame) introduces an odd array of British books and settles on The Wind in the Willows. (Basil would later be given a tribute in another Disney film – The Great Mouse Detective, having the main character named after himself.)

Now, I can’t really talk about this segment as a comparison to the novel. I’ve never read it. Walt got the rights to the film in 1938, so this film was 10+ years in the making (Although there was a pause because of the war.) Both shorts (Ichabod and Mr. Toad) were originally meant to be full length films. After Disney realized The Adventures of Mr. Toad wasn’t going to make it as a full feature, they wanted to pair it with Mickey and the Beanstalk, but it was too long. So Bongo got stuck there instead and Mr. Toad met up with Ichabod. Whatever. Carry on.

Mr. Toad lives in Toad Hall, but unfortunately he is quite irresponsible with his fortune. Because of this, Angus MacBadger is in charge of the estate. Angus calls Toad’s friends, Rat and Mole, over because Toad has gone insane. And yes, Rat was designed to look like Sherlock Holmes.

Now we get our fabulous introduction to Mr. J. Thaddeus Toad (probably my favorite forgotten Disney character.) He is merrily merrily merrily merrily merrily on his way to nowhere in particularwith his dear friend Cyril Proudbottom and their canary yellow horse-drawn cart. From the very second Toad appears on screen, you instantly know his character. You know exactly how he will act. Toad gets obsessed with anything that presents itself in front of him. Hence why he wants a car. Toad is fantastically done.

Anyway, Toad waltzes into a pub and trades the deed to Toad Hall for a car. Unfortunately, the car was stolen. Toad gets put in jail. There’s a trial. He gets put back in jail. He escapes by dressing up like a woman.

So, Cyril (yes, the horse) is dressed up like a grandma and goes to visit Toad on Christmas. He brought a granny suit for Toad, too. Apparently, this plan works? The jail guards believe that a HUGE horse-sized granny went in and a small toad-sized granny came out? Oh okay. WHAT!?

Eventually it is found that Toad is innocent and he gets Toad Hall back, after an epic battle with lots of sharp weapons and paper airplanes. Hurrah.

I think most of this film would go over kids’ heads, but that’s okay because Toad is fabulous. Who cares about the plot?

So. Why does Sarah care about this segment? Three reasons, as a matter of fact.

1. The character of Mr. Toad. He’s memorable, he’s funny, he’s mad.

2. The use of both animals and humans in the film. Winkey, the barkeep, the police, lawyers, and some random background characters were all human whereas Angus, Cyril, Mr. Toad, Rat and Mole are animals. We’ve seen that before. Nothing remarkable about that. However, the worlds were perfectly integrated. The animals were much smaller than the humans (although not true to size) and they acted seamlessly. The cars, horse-drawn cart, etc. weren’t animal sized or adapted. It wasn’t awkward that there was a crossover. I don’t know why there were both humans and animals, but it worked well.

3. There was an attraction located in the Magic Kingdom’s Fantasyland entitled “Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride.” It was an opening day attraction. Sadly, this ride closed in 1998, despite a very large protest.

Sarah, it’s just a ride. Who cares? There’s one in Disneyland still (but the Disneyland one is different)

Well, I care.

You boarded a motorcar on one of two sides of a track. It was a dark ride, first taking you through Toad Hall. The car almost ran into several things. It was “wild,” so they say. The two tracks had different scenes…taking you through the courtroom, a gypsy camp, a train that almost hits you…(clearly, this has very little to do with the film) and then last but not least, IT TAKES YOU THROUGH HELL. Appropriate, NOPE. Did I love it? YES!

Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride was closed down forever in 1998. It was then replaced by The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. Today, two tributes still stand in WDW for Mr. Toad:

A picture of Mr. Toad handing the deed to Toad Hall to Owl (located inside the Winnie the Pooh ride).

And a tombstone in the pet cemetery of the Haunted Mansion.

Moving on….

The Ichabod segment used to be played on Halloween night on the Disney Channel (when they actually played their own classic material.) Disney also segmented it further where they cut Ichabod out completely and just kept the part about the headless horseman. I would definitely prefer it this way. The first 2/3s of this film bore me to no end. Sorry, buddy, don’t care about you or your love life. In fact, he was kind of a jerk…only going to date women for their food.

The only thing I will say is that I agree with Jon….the Beauty and the Beast animators must have looked at Brom Bones and that creepy guy.